Ever felt limited by the fact that you offer a kind of service or expertise that’s hard to explain or that your ideal clients don’t understand?
Most likely, this isn’t the limitation that you think it is!
I have a framework for communicating pretty much ANY form of expertise in a way that the intended client will understand.
(and, as we all know, greater understanding from potential clients tends to equal more raised hands, and more sales – because they “get” why the heck they need the esoteric thing that you offer!)
My full framework is too much to explain in one post, but I’m going to highlight one element of it so you can at least begin to see how it works.
Let’s say you’re a somatic coach and you feel limited because most people don’t know what the heck that means.
One thing we’d do together if you were my client is to make a list of various problems that your clients tend to bring to you.
And we’d also make sure they’re worded the way your clients word them.
For example: “I felt really anxious for the entire day yesterday after someone sent me a nasty message on FB saying they disagreed with the political post I made”
Or: “My mom and I aren’t close anymore because of a falling-out we had last year over her not liking my boyfriend, and every day I am so focused on my sadness that I can’t concentrate.”
Or: A million other things. You know your work helps to solve a million problems for your clients, right?
And then what we’d do next is craft interesting posts that you can share regularly on Facebook – that explain the CONNECTION between each of these problems and your somatic coaching approach.
Posts in my framework can begin in a variety of ways, but one common way we use is to catch the reader’s attention by mentioning their problem – and then launching into a piece of your method for solving it.
(Just like I did in this post 😉 )
So, for the somatic coaching work, perhaps you’d begin a post like so:
“When you feel anxious for an entire day because of a nasty message that someone sent you about one of your FB posts – it’s because the incident created tension that is actually physically stored in your body.
“The tension can be dissolved by….”
And that’s where I have to stop because I’m not a somatic coach myself 😉 and I’d need to actually have a conversation with you to know how to explain what your solution is.
Perhaps we’d even do an overview explanation of HOW that tension came to be stored in the body.
Like, “First, you took the nasty message and made it mean something about you.
“Then, you started ruminating.
“And then….” Again, grasping a bit here because I need the expert to tell me exactly how this happens before I can help them write their post. 😉
But – can you see that if you did it this way, the reader who is experiencing this problem of “all-day anxiety from a nasty FB message” would get to the end of the post understanding EXACTLY why it is that they need your work?
Furthermore, you might not even use the word “somatic” in that post, ever.
I mean, you could if you wanted to.
Like: “The tension from that experience was stored in your body – we call that ‘somatic’ tension.”
But using the term really isn’t necessary for the reader to grasp what your work is about and why they would need it.
I can apply this messaging method to just about any form of expertise.
Mention a problem, talk about how they can solve it using whatever you’re an expert in.
Mention a problem, talk about how they can solve it using whatever you’re an expert in.
Mention a problem, talk about how they can solve it using whatever you’re an expert in. 🙂
This general framework never gets old.
I’ve taught it to hundreds of people now and have been delighted to see them come up with infinite creative ways to express these super-simple “problem” and “one piece of solution” components in these wonderful essay-style posts that we write.
And we all get feedback that what we write always feels fresh and interesting (in other words – readers don’t ever say that it feels like we’re writing in a formulaic way – even despite the fact that the posts include similar elements each time).
As simple as this method is, though, I don’t see most coaches and experts sharing their work in this way!
If they do attempt to write about their expertise and what it can do for people, they usually don’t LEAD with the “what it can do for you” part (that’s the “problem” part).
Rather, I usually see post beginnings and headlines such as:
“WHAT IS SOMATIC WORK AND WHAT CAN IT DO FOR YOU”
Expecting to catch potential clients’ attention this way is totally backwards.
If they have no idea what somatic work even is, they’re most likely not going to read past the headline of that post.
In contrast, posts that are un-ignore-able are that way because they lead with what the CLIENT is thinking and wanting.
All great marketing and copy are great for that reason, actually.
When I started posting every day with a clear intention to explain how my expertise could solve a SPECIFIC problem that my ideal client was having (“specific” is key), that was when my business took off.
To the tune of 1-2 clients per week (and NOT for cheap offers – we’re talking 5k-15k!).
And I get messages weekly, from clients and others who use my methods, letting me know that the online portion of their businesses are taking off or growing to the next level also because of this strategy.
It’s so simple, yet so powerful.
Or rather – it’s powerful BECAUSE it’s simple.
Of course, what I told you in this post isn’t the whole story.
There are more elements to the strategy that need to be in place for maximum power.
Like, we also spend a good deal of effort on framing the actual OFFER to work with you.
(That, too, is about leading with a problem and then masterfully connecting the dots to the solution – but it’s in a broader way than the daily posts that talk about micro-problems)
And we will periodically make posts in a specific framework that ONLY talk about the offer.
In the daily essay-style posts, we also have a certain way that we weave the offer in at the end, as well as detailing the exact next steps for someone who is interested.
(Because people can’t read your mind about that stuff – and that’s another, separate reason why content often doesn’t convert to clients.)
And, of course, we strategically grow our audience daily as well as removing no-longer-engaged folks, so that there are always fresh eyeballs on the great content.
All of these pieces together create a simple, doable way for the right clients to actually understand what your work is about and why they need it so much.
Are you seeing it? 🙂
Sometimes they’ll understand it immediately – after reading one or two posts, even – if those posts spoke to problems they’re having.
Other times, they’ll grasp it more over time, as they see you unpack your expertise in different ways, day after day.
I’ve had both types of clients (the kind who just found out about me yesterday, and the kind who’ve been following me for years) and they’re both awesome, because either way they’re so “sold” on the value and importance of the work we’re going to be doing before we even start.
If you want my help to put this simple yet potent marketing/messaging strategy (known collectively as “The Strong Method”) into place – you can hire me for a 1-on-1 30-day intensive to do just that.
I’ll help you to think through your offer – what problem it solves, how to explain the solution in terms of your expertise, and how to explain who it’s the best fit for – even how to structure the offer, if you need – and I’ll review and critique pitches that you write for the offer, using my proven 500-word “offer statement” framework.
I’ll also help you to generate tons of ideas for the daily essay-style posts, and critique as many as you want to write.
(And these are “fine-toothed-comb” type critiques – I spend most of my client work time giving high-quality, detailed feedback on these posts.)
We also spend a bit of time, if you wish, on how to qualify people who contact you with interest in your offer (in this method, they’re so sold that you don’t even really need to do a sales call – just ask a few questions over Messenger to make sure they’re the right client).
And if you need help getting more eyeballs on your posts (who doesn’t?!) we’ll also talk through my simple method for growing your friends list with people who might actually need your work and/or would spread the word about it after they read your awesome posts. And we’ll customize the method to your business.
If you’re interested in the 30-day program, the next step is to DM me on FB. I’m accepting new clients right now!
Full details and investment are available here.
I also want to let you know if that if you’re a long-time (or short-time!) fan of the Strong Method who’s interested in teaching it to your clients, I’m developing a certification program that will be available later this year.
You can DM me on FB to be added to the waitlist.